Friday, February 20, 2015

Festive Friday... on hold...

Hello Festive Players!

You must be wondering what has happened to us this last few weeks! Usually we are back at our challenges by now, ready to tackle another year of Christmas cards.

Well, there have been a few changes and some difficult decisions needed to be made. A few of the ladies decided it was time to step down from the team, including Ardyth who was the one who swooped in and saved me last year when I needed to step away. We still have some renovations waiting for us, so I was left debating how to move forward.

Within a week of getting the email from a few of the girls telling me it was time for them to say goodbye, I had some news of my own... my husband and I are expecting our third baby this summer! Our two girls are older - my littlest (now middle) will be starting school in the fall, so in so many ways we are starting over again. So I knew right away I couldn't devote myself to this challenge the way it needs in order to run smoothly.

So for now, I have decided to put Festive Friday on hold. I'm not shutting it down and walking away because I really love what this challenge is growing into, and I know so many of you have shared with us that this is your favourite. Your enthusiasm and support means the world to me, and I couldn't just walk away from that.

So at this point, my plan is to take 2015 off from Festive Friday, and come January of 2016, when I (hopefully) have a baby who sleeps through the night (I'm an optimist, aren't I?), we'll start again. I imagine I'll be hosting a design team call later in the year, as I rebuild the team to start fresh. So be on the lookout for that!

I can't leave you without anything pretty to look at, so here is one of the cards I made for Christmas of 2014. I used one of my newest sets from Papertrey (I seem to be hooked on Poinsettia stamps), and some gold glitter - simple, but I still enjoyed the results!

Thank you so much for your faithful participation and I really hope you understand my decision to put things on hold for a bit. I may still check in on you guys here and there as the year goes - it's likely that I'll keep producing holiday cards through the weeks, so I'll keep sharing them if you'll have me!

I'd love your feedback on this decision, good and bad, and for you to let me know how you feel about all of this. I really do value you guys and I'm so grateful for each and every one of you who has hit that 'follow' button!

18 comments:

Congratulations on number 3 Meredith...SO happy for you and your family! While I will miss checking out the inspiration, you need to do what you must for your family, and there are plenty of other challenges out there to keep us busy this year until you return in 2016! Wishing you many blessings and happiness for 2015!! :0)

Congrats on the baby news! Exciting! And totally understandable why you'd put FF on hold. I will miss it though. You know it was my favourite Christmas card challenge. Look forward to seeing it again next year! Good luck with your renos and congrats again! :-)

Enjoy your time off and best wishes for your new baby. I hope the baby sleeps okay. My first daughter didn't sleep longer than 1/2 hour at a time for the first 4 months, so I didn't have time for anything else. My second daughter slept 3-4 hours. I used to go check on her to make sure she was still breathing.

Dsrn! Just when I was finishing up my kitchen reno and looking to get back into stamping mode! I totally understand though, how other ventures can pull you in other directions. Congrats on your new addition! Hope to join you back here next year.

Congratulations with this exciting news!!!!!! I totally understand that you have to make this decision and I will sure miss the challenges but I definately will come back in 2016. So it's something to look out for then. The best of luck and keep us posted about your new baby.

Most importantly, congratulations on the new addition to your family, Meredith, and best wishes for a smooth pregnancy and delivery! How exciting to be starting over! I think a lot of women secretly want another baby when the youngest starts school!

You take all the time you need. We will be here ready to play whenever you feel the time is right to start up again! Hugs, Darnell

Meredith,Congratulations on your pregnancy! And I will look forward to 2016 and also to seeing any posts you put up as time permits! Blessings to you and thanks to everyone that has worked on the Festive Friday Challenge! Such a lovely group and so much glorious inspiration! See you soon!

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We will help you beat the holiday rush! Every 2 weeks, we will post a new challenge to jump start your holiday projects. Create a card, layout, tag... anything goes, as long as it's Christmas themed! You can combine our challenge with your other favourites and you can enter as many times as you like! Link lists will close the Wednesday evening before the new challenge goes live.